NLL Insider - Knicks vs. Nets Series Preview

by Rootsey, updated on Friday, April 21 2017, 04:22 am EST

Overview

Is there a better match up in the first round match up than the battle for Gotham? Could this be scripted better? A perennial title favorite, and the up and coming phoenix-like team who has risen from the ashes in a few short years. Both teams have put together huge starting line-ups and both have strong benches.

The Knicks finished the season a few games out of the top spot in the league, increasing their wins total to 62. We have to go back to 2006/2007 season to see the only time the Knicks have missed the playoff. For those who forgot or weren't around, that's when Seattle was in the league. This season their high octane offense lead the league with 115.51 points per game thanks to Kyrie Irving and James Harden, which gave them the best home record in the league (tied with Philly). These two also makes them the only team in the league to have two 90+ rated players on their team.

The Net finished this season with 50 wins, with a top 6 offense at 109.2 points per game, but a middle of the pack defense with 105.6 points allowed per game hampered them. Unlike the Knicks, this year is the first year since 2012/2013 that the Nets have sniffed the playoffs. For those who weren't around then or don't remember, that was when Miami had 66 wins, how the tides can turn. But stats and antecdotes themselves don't tell the real story of the Nets this season or of the last few. The trade block is where this team has come together. Prior to Wizkids (2013/2014 season) arrival a couple of classic hindsight trades occured with Brooklyn sending Kyle Lowry out for Chris Kaman and Jerryd Bayless, followed by Chris Bosh leaving for Kevin Garnett and Gerald Wallace. So this can give everyone an idea of where this team has come from. In the three seasons since, Wiz has slowly collected assets. The lottery balls bounced his way once with winning the lottery and trading the pick for Cousins. This season though has been trade trade trade, only Eric Bledsoe saw the start and the end of the season wearing Brooklyn colours, with all the important pieces joining close to the deadline.

Injuries

We head into the first round with a squad of healthy players from both teams, specifically it will affect the Nets more than the Knicks, as this will be the first week we will be able to see a Nets team sport a full line up since their trade deadline-ish deal. This will be the first time Kevin Love & Erice Bledsoe are available to play at the same time.

The Knicks have had a few injuries throughout the season, but only Paul Milsap is yet to clear medical for the first game of the series, and whispers are that he looks good to go.

Starters Match Up

The Knicks starting line-up will be a group that has logged the majority of the season together, Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap, Luc Mbah a Moute, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, so their consistency will be their strength against the Nets, whose proposed starting line up has yet to play a competitive game together. DeAndre Jordan, Kevin Love, DeMar DeRozan, Goran Dragic, and Eric Bledsoe are currently listed as the starting 5 are inch by inch as strong as the Knicks starting group. Looking through the ratings of the most recent patch, the total of the overall ratings for the Knicks is 426 versus the total of the overall ratings for the Nets of 429 (once you adjust Dragic to a SG as per line up). So you couldn't get a more evenly match pair of teams. But everyone knows overall ratings only count for so much.

Then you look at the players themselves, both teams are basically running with a 2 "point" guard line up with a strong defensive centre, and a four who has some range to their shooting. The obvious difference is the three spot, where you have a 3&D guy in Luc, versus a flat out scorer who is allergic to make a deep shot in DeRozan. Just as a quick note, do you think Wizkid only trades for guys with two or more capital letters in their names? LeVert, DeRozan, DeAndre, O'Quinn (bit of a stretch in that last one). It's like a randomly generated p4SsW0rD up in there.

Bench Match Up

Where the starters are evenly matched in ratings and team shaps, the bench match up is anything but evenly matched. The Nets have a balanced yet average bench line up, with LeVert, Mason Plumlee, O'Quinn, Snell & Etwaun Moore being the most likely to get a run through the first round. Where the Knicks will be running with Nene, ZBo, JIngles, Patty Mills, and either McGruder or Lance "will make them dance" Stephenson as the back ups. I'm not even going to compare the ratings, cause the Knicks win it in spades. Bobby Portis (rated 77) might not even see the court. How many teams in the league need a Bobby Portis when he's the 11th man for the Knicks?

Keys to the Series

Bench Play - League Rules stipulate you can only max your players minutes to 35 per game, so that is a total of 65 bench minutes at a minimum we should see. When the bench differential is so big, will those 65 be Brooklyn's' downfall?

Small Forward - Can Luc Mbah a Moute keep DeMar DeRozan quiet or perhaps Joe Ingles might be given the chore of guarding him, as he is a better rated version of the same type of guy.

Consistancy versus Upheaval - The Knicks made 2 trades that matter this season, bothfor bench guys. 1. ZBo for John Henson 2. Nene, Mills, Ingles for Hibbert, Thornton, Dekker and picks. This kept their starting 5 core together and greatly improved their bench. The Nets traded everybody. Twice, and have yet to play their core together. Will the year long of practice sims pay off for the Knicks, or will Nets get the coaching/playbook combo down immediately?

NLL Insider - Knicks vs. Nets Series Preview

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